With just a couple of days to go now before Everton take to the pitch against newly-promoted Watford in the 2015-16 season, the group here at Royal Blue Mersey share their predictions for the English Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup campaigns.
Brian
EPL Top 6: Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United, Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool
Everton EPL: 7th
EPL Bottom 3: Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa
FA Cup Winner: Man United
Everton FA Cup: Round of 16
League Cup Winner: Man City
Everton League Cup: 1st Round of play
Golden Boot: Diego Costa
Darren
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur
Everton EPL: 7th or 8th. If we vastly improve the squad and the manager gets rid of this favouritism he has then I believe we could push for 5th.
EPL Bottom 3: Norwich City, Watford, Newcastle United (fingers crossed with that last one!)
FA Cup Winner: I say it every season and I put money on it, Everton.
Everton FA Cup: The above is with my heart. With my head, I think Manchester United will win something this season.
League Cup Winner: Chelsea
Everton League Cup: I'd like to think we would take this competition seriously, and if we did I'd fancy us to win it. But, I think unfortunately we will leave the competition in round 3 because I very much doubt the manager will take it seriously.
Golden Boot: Harry Kane
Alex
EPL Top 6: Man.Utd, Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Tottenham, The shite.
Everton EPL: The current team without the addition of players, haven't got enough to break the top 7 place imo. 8th or 9th at a push... But if we sign another striker and McAleny gets a chance I feel we could be looking at 7th pushing 6th.
EPL Bottom 3: Norwich City, Leicester, Sunderland.
FA Cup Winners: Man.Utd, i'd say Everton but I really do think all of Martinez' eggs will be in the Premier league basket, so to speak, this season.
Everton FA Cup: 5th round
League Cup Winners: Manchester City
Everton League Cup: First round, we've never had any interest in the competition and again, in line with what I said about the FA cup.
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero
Matt
EPL Top 6: Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Man U, Liverpool, Tottenham
Everton EPL: Even without the added Europa League games the squad still seems lacking, Everton still struggle and finish 8th
EPL Bottom 3: Watford, Sunderland, Norwich
FA Cup Winners: Arsenal
Everton FA Cup: Sixth Round
League Cup Winners: Southampton
Everton League Cup: Fifth Round
Golden Boot: Alexis Sanchez
Max Mil
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton
Everton EPL: 6th. More with the heart than the head, but with less games and hopefully a settled side as a result we could get back in to the mix for the European places.
EPL Bottom 3: Watford, Sunderland, Bournemouth
FA Cup Winners: Man Utd
Everton FA Cup: Sixth Round
League Cup Winners: Aston Villa
Everton League Cup: Quarter finals
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero
Tom W
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur
Everton EPL: Eighth. Whilst Everton do have starting talent to push for a European place, the severe lack of depth will see Martinez's men fall short of qualifying for the Europa League.
EPL Bottom 3: Leicester City, Norwich City, Bournemouth
FA Cup Winners: Manchester United
Everton FA Cup: Quarter Final. The team will tease us with getting close to Wembley, but will spectacularly fail against big opposition. Probably Liverpool.
League Cup Winners: Manchester City
Everton League Cup: Third Round. Martinez isn't brave enough to put up a serious challenge for the League Cup. It's hardly the most prestigious of trophies, but it would bring an end to a 20-year-old trophy drought. The Toffees could get through the first couple of rounds with favourable draws, but when it comes to even playing a half-decent team there's a good chance that they'll send Everton tumbling out.
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero
Sibi
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton
Everton EPL: 6th younger players have more experience. Less variability with squad. I'm assuming we get another striker and CB at minimum.
EPL Bottom 3: Sunderland, Leicester, Norwich
FA Cup Winners: Man City
Everton FA Cup: 5th round
League Cup Winners: Arsenal
Everton League Cup: Quarterfinals
Golden Boot: Diego Costa
Tom M
EPL Top 6: Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Tottenham
Everton EPL: Ninth – unless there’s some dramatic late activity in the transfer market I fear Everton’s squad is just too thin to cope with the rigours of a long, hard league season – even without the Europa League this year.
EPL Bottom 3: Sunderland, Leicester, Watford
FA Cup Winner: Man Utd
Everton FA Cup: Fifth round – capable of squeezing through the early rounds but not sure they have the resilience to go much further.
League Cup Winner: Chelsea
Everton League Cup: Fourth round. The League Cup and Everton just don’t get on.
Golden Boot: Wayne Rooney
Ryan
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Man U, Spurs & Liverpool
Everton EPL: 9th. As it sits, the Blues are still too thin at several positions. If they pick up a few injuries, the entire club will suffer.
EPL Bottom 3: Watford, Sunderland & Leicester
FA Cup Winners: Tottenham
Everton FA Cup: 6th Round
League Cup Winners: Burnley
Everton League Cup: 4th Round
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero
Adam
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Everton EPL: 11th - Crystal Palace, Stoke City and Swansea all improved more than Everton over the summer. If they were all better than the Toffees last season, why would that change now?
EPL Bottom 3: Aston Villa, Sunderland, and Bournemouth - Villa can't recover from losing Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph, Sunderland scored only 31 times last season and just sold Connor Wickham, and Bournemouth's marquee additions are Artur Boruc, Adam Federici, and Sylvain Distin...enough said.
FA Cup Winners: Southampton - The Saints, who will be out of the race for European places by FA Cup crunch time, focus on the cup and shock a couple of the bigger clubs.
Everton FA Cup: Third Round - Everton's inability to break down teams that park the bus bites the club once again, as the Toffees go down to a lower league opponent in their first match of the tournament.
League Cup Winners: Chelsea
Everton League Cup: Semi-Finals: Desperate to erase the memory of last season's dreadful domestic cup form, Roberto Martinez takes the League Cup seriously, but the Toffees lack the necessary talent once the big guns start to take the tournament seriously in the late rounds.
Golden Boot: Wayne Rooney - Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa are too frequently injured and Harry Kane will have to do too much on his own this season. Rooney will benefit from all the changes at Old Trafford this season -- those that improved his club's midfield quality and those that left him as the club's obvious top striker.
Sean F
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Tottenham
Everton EPL: 9th. This is the least optimistic I've been going in to a season in a long time. Everton were a few results away from 4th in 2013/14 but after last season and potentially losing John Stones and maybe Kevin Mirallas now or at the end of the season, and not trying to significantly improve the squad; means that we are just as far from being Champions League contenders as we have ever been. If we are not careful Everton could be in danger of letting teams who are strengthening like Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Swansea City, West Ham United, even Aston Villa and Newcastle United pass us by.
EPL Bottom 3: Bournemouth, Norwich and Leicester City.
FA Cup Winners: Manchester United
Everton FA Cup: 5th round, it's been a few years since our last decent cup run and combing my own lack of optimism and lack of luck of the draw, I just can't see the Blues stringing the six wins together required to win at Wembley.
League Cup Winners: Arsenal
Everton League Cup: 3rd Round, it's fashionable for EPL clubs to rest members of the first team and us doing that also works against us, particularly in away draws.
Golden Boot: Should be a decent race between Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney and Alexis Sanchez this season. However Costa's ongoing hamstring problem is what will give Aguero the golden boot for me.
Sean L
EPL Top 6: Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City & Everton.
Everton EPL: 6th. We'll be better than last season and hopefully a quick start will push us on for the rest of the season. Optimistic thinking at best though.
EPL Bottom 3: Watford, Leicester City & Bournemouth.
FA Cup Winners: Manchester United.
Everton FA Cup: Semi final
League Cup Winners: Manchester City
Everton League Cup: First round.
Golden Boot: Sergio Agüero.
Matt H
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd., Liverpool, Tottenham
Everton EPL: 7th. Extra year of experience and no European competitions to focus on give some help, but it's not quite enough to push out of the top of mid-table.
EPL Bottom 3: Norwich, Leicester, Watford
FA Cup Winners: Man Utd.
Everton FA Cup: 5th Round
League Cup Winners: Man City
Everton League Cup: 4th Round
Golden Boot: Sergio Agüero.
Calvin
EPL Top 6: Chelsea, City, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Tottenham - I will trust the bookies this year, they always know better than my heart.
Everton EPL: 8th - Unless Roberto gets some mindblowing players for the three positions he identified - central defender, number 10 and striker.
EPL Bottom 3: Bournemouth, Norwich, Watford - the newbies are going crazy in the mercato, but won't have enough time to develop chemistry.
FA Cup Winner: Arsenal
Everton FA Cup: Quarter final - it will become apparent really soon that we are not in Top 6 contention, and Roberto will put all his eggs in this basket (see League Cup below).
League Cup Winner: Southampton
Everton League Cup: Fourth Round - too early in the season, and Roberto will still believe that there is a chance of gaining Europe via the PL.
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero - both he and Diego Costa are injury-prone, and it's likely that someone might pip them to the post, but who will be this season's Harry Kane?
Let's hear your predictions in the comment below, and we'll review this article at the end of the season to see how right or wrong we all were.